STAYING in contact with school friends can be a tough task, but not for two Dorset musicians, who have gone on to receive recognition from the top.

Jon Whitley and Jay LaBouchardiere have been performing as Ninebarrow since 2012, with both meeting after being put in the same class as 12-year-olds at Poole Grammar School.

In the midst of a busy summer of concerts, they will call into several Dorset venues, including a gig at Lyme Folk Weekend next Friday.

Ninebarrow got their name from the Nine Barrow Down in the Purbeck hills. Originally the duo were part of a rock cover band, and got their musical taste from various different genres.

Jon said: “Both of us have a collective taste in music and enjoy lots of different genres.

“I like rock, blues, jazz and folk, Jay likes that, as well as electric, pop, dance, a wide taste and we are both inspired from different genres.”

Jon’s dad is Dorset folk singer and song-writer Bob Whitley, who provided both with a backdrop of folk music at his sing-around sessions, which were held at Bob’s house.

It was at these sessions that Jon and Jay started to harmonise when singing.

When asked if there was any pressure in having a folk singer as a father, Jon said: “He’s only ever done it as a serious hobby.

“Since he retired, there’s been more of a focus for him.

“There’s been no mega pressure on us. As a child, having that type of music around meant the influence was constantly there.

“We do a lot of talking these days, we’ve almost come full circle.

“As a child, I was asking advice, and now as an adult, it’s him asking. It’s an interesting situation.”

The duo’s third album, The Waters & The Wild, which was released in April, was the first they both did in a professional recording studio.

Jon said: “There’s been definite progression. The third album was the first in a studio after recording the first two in our own studio. It was good taking an outside producer on board, and a definite shift in production quality. When we record our own stuff, we are enthusiastic amateurs. When working with someone that knows what they are doing, it opened new horizons.”

When writing an album, Jon said that to try and get an ebb-and-flow on the album, the duo would take a wall in Jon’s living room, put the title of each track on a piece of paper, and then put the paper on the wall to work out the track listing.

Jon however has said that he feels this technique might be slightly redundant, with people choosing their own track order, and streaming services such as Spotify shuffling the tracks.

When asked about the historic links to the songs, Jon said: “Jay and I are passionate about Dorset history and folklore.

“We have weaved a lot into songs we write, big chunks of it.

“We are both interested in history, and I myself used to be a primary school teacher, and was previously head of history.”

Jon noted that folk music was a good platform to spread their passion for history, as it was such a broad genre, with singers sharing both political voice and narrative.

The album also includes ‘Prickle-eye Bush’, a cover of a song sometimes known as ‘The Maid Freed from the Gallows’, one of the first folk songs Jon ever heard.

Again though, like many other tracks on the album, it has a dark undertone.

Jon said: “It’s a fun song, although it is about someone getting hanged.”

Since the release, The Waters and the Wild has been well received, with Mark Radcliffe of BBC Radio 2 and 6, saying it was: “Really lovely- like two halves of one voice.”

The album also reached number two in Amazon’s Best-Seller chart in June 2018.

Jon said: “We’ve been really pleased by the response and amazing reviews, it’s been a relief.

“When we finished the album, it was a few months before it was sent to our publicist, and we felt really happy with it. The really good reviews have left us absolutely delighted.”

The duo have also been recognised for their hard work, receiving a nomination for the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards Horizon Award in 2017.

The duo are currently performing at various festivals and shows, and are due to headline a show on the Friday of Lyme Folk Weekend. Having performed at the festival in 2016, the band will be joined by friends including Kadia, as well as many of the people that helped with their album.

Jon said: “We’ve done a few shows as part of the folk fest and always enjoyed it. This will be a different concert, we were asked how we fancied curating a one-off concert, and it will hark back to our early days of sing-a-rounds, so we hope the concert will be like that.

“There will be 10 of us on stage at the same time, and we will start the evening with one song, and from there, the concert will progress in an unknown direction, and generate collaboration.

“It will be interesting to see what will happen, there is an avid focus on getting people to join in.”

After performing their summer shows, the duo will be embarking on their next exciting project.

This will include performing in Dorchester with a cellist, and performing as a trio.

In early 2019, the band hope to become a quartet by playing with a double bassist, before adding a percussionist.

When asked what’s next for the group, Jon said: “Hopefully the project with be a big success. When recording albums, we like to collaborate with musical friends.

“If the concerts are successful, either as a trio, quartet or band, we don’t know yet, we could be looking to work with the guys we have on board.

“As an act you are always developing, you don’t know what direction you will head in.

“New musicians coming into the group change the sound.

“Who knows, Electronica Ninebarrow could be a thing in the future.”

n The Waters & The Wild is available to buy or stream now

The duo will be performing on Friday, August 31 at the Marine Theatre for Lyme Folk Weekend.

They will also be playing at Swanage Folk Festival on Friday, September 7. A performance will also take place at the Corn Exchange in Dorchester on Friday, October 5. See ninebarrow.co.uk/gigs